Botanical classification/cultivar designation: Sanvitalia procumbens cultivar QuHa 4015/1.
The present Invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Sanvitalia plant, botanically known as Sanvitalia procumbens and hereinafter referred to by the name xe2x80x98QuHa 4015/1xe2x80x99.
The new Sanvitalia was discovered by the Inventor in 1999 as a naturally-occurring branch mutation of an unnamed proprietary Sanvitalia procumbens seedling selection, not patented, in a greenhouse in Venhuizen, The Netherlands. The new Sanvitalia was selected by the Inventor on the basis of its larger inflorescence size.
Asexual reproduction of the new Sanvitalia by vegetative cuttings was first conducted in Venhuizen, The Netherlands in 1999. Asexual reproduction by vegetative cuttings has shown that the unique features of this new Sanvitalia are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.
The cultivar xe2x80x98QuHa 4015/1xe2x80x99 has not been observed under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype may vary somewhat with variations in environment such as temperature and light level without, however, any variance in genotype.
The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be the unique characteristics of xe2x80x98QuHa 4015/1xe2x80x99. These characteristics in combination distinguish xe2x80x98QuHa 4015/1xe2x80x99 as a new and distinct Sanvitalia:
1. Low mounding and spreading plant habit.
2. Dark green-colored foliage.
3. Early and freely flowering habit.
4. Bright yellow-colored ray florets.
Compared to plants of the parent selection, plants of the new Sanvitalia are faster growing, have darker green-colored leaves, are more freely flowering and have larger inflorescences.
Plants of the new Sanvitalia can be compared to plants of the Sanvitalia cultivar Aztekengold, not patented. In side-by-side comparisons conducted in Venhuizen, The Netherlands, plants of the new Sanvitalia differed from plants of the cultivar Aztekengold in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Sanvitalia grew faster than plants of the cultivar Aztekengold.
2. Plants of the new Sanvitalia had larger inflorescences than plants of the cultivar Aztekengold.
3. Ray florets of plants of the new Sanvitalia were darker yellow in color than ray florets of plants of the cultivar Aztekengold.